This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Building MaestraPeace Mural that is an incredible artistic achievement documenting through vibrant visual murals the history of real and mythical women around the world. In 1971, a group of revolutionary women founded the San Francisco Women’s Center, which began within a small storefront office on Brady Street. In 1973, after joining with other women’s organizations and groups looking to locate a venue for the National Conference on Violence Against Women, they found the Dovre Hall, a 4 story building on 18th Street in the Mission. In 1979, the location became the permanent residence of The Women Building after enough money was raised to purchase the property. The Women's Building was the first women-led, woman owned non-profit arts and education community center in the country. Women’s movement needs a room of her own. It advocates for women’s rights, gender equality and social justice and serves over 25,000 clients yearly. The Women’s Building has sponsored more than 170 organizations and non-profits such as, La Casa de las Madres, The Women’s Foundation of California, and Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center. Where women can come together to work, heal, support each other and create community in a safe space with numerous programs focusing on women’s issues with programs and resources to empower women, their family and community. Seven talented Bay Area women artists and 100s of volunteers came together in 1994 to create this massive 5 story mural, on 2 sides of the exterior of the historic Women’s Building. This magnificent multicultural feminist collection of images within the mural depict infamous women revolutionaries and heroes, both real and mythical that includes the Aztec Goddesses, Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi, poet activist Audre Lorde, painter Georgia O’Keeffe, revolutionary Lolita Lebron, and Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. MaestraPeace means “teacher of peace”. The images represent global gender justice and cross-cultural connection between the African and indigenous cultures of the Americas’ and global gender justice. The group of women artists are diverse both ethnically and sexual identities. The 7 artists who created the mural were Juana Alicia, Miranda Bergman, Edythe Boone artivist, councellor art teacher, aunt of Eric Garner, Susan Kelk Cervantes co founder of Precita Eyes, Meera Desai, Yvonne Littleton and Irene Perez. Calligrapher Olivia Quevedo also contributed by painting the muralists names on the building, along with the names of over 600 important women throughout history. In 2000 repairs restoration additions 18th street façade additions 2010 entrance lobby complete restoration 2012. To celebrate this landmark the Women’s Building have released the gorgeous, colorful masterpiece of a book about the mural itself called Maestrapeace – San Francisco’s Monumental Feminist Mural. The book is breathtaking and enormous in size with a hardcover cloth cover. There is an intro written as a 40 page essay by Angela Davis about the history of the building and mural proceeded with a poem by Alice Walker called “And When the Time Comes” inspired by the women muralists. The book is dedicated to Oliva Quevedo and Delexes Woods Boone, the late son of Edythe Boone. The Women’s Building is the first women founded and owned community center with services specifically for women and girls with programs that assist in job seeking, tech tutoring, tax services, financial coaching, legal help, information and referrals for housing, domestic violence serves, a family reunification for migrants and internet services. They have a food pantry and wellness classes, advocacy groups and rooms for non-profit organizations. Programs room rentals. Accept volunteers or donate. There are empowerment groups like the open mic night in Audrey Lorde room, currently focusing on victims of domestic violence. There are about nine nonprofits who currently share the building and numerous who rent rooms there for meetings and events. Some of these organizations include the California Domestic Workers Coalition, Dolores Street Community Services, Head Start Program, Girls on the Run, SF WAR group, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Narcotics Anonymous and many others. They have rooms for exercise classes, yoga, meditation, workshops, classes, presentations, meetings, conferences, fundraising events, even family. Many of the original artists returned to the building for an update in 2000, an expansion to the inside of the building in 2010, and a major restoration in 2012. That last restoration included a treatment process designed to preserve the colors of the mural for another 100 years. Menchu participated in the dedication of the mural after completion. I had the honor having a film short based on my life as a San Francisco native during my teens, called Hotel Hopscotch, premiere at 2005 for the SF Doc Fest which inside the Women’s Building. You can read more about the history of the Women’s Building in the book from 2011 called Mothering the Movement: A Story of the San Francisco Women’s Building.